Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Liquidia Corporation (NASDAQ:LQDA)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $60.22 and last traded at $59.8530, with a volume of 775626 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $56.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LQDA. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Liquidia from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Lifesci Capital upgraded Liquidia to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Liquidia from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Liquidia from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Liquidia from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.33.

Liquidia Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 426.97 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 2.03.

Liquidia (NASDAQ:LQDA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. Liquidia had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 46.82%. The firm had revenue of $132.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.44 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4187.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Liquidia Corporation will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liquidia

In other Liquidia news, CEO Roger Jeffs sold 32,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.37, for a total transaction of $1,256,387.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,137,599 shares in the company, valued at $43,649,673.63. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Stephen M. Bloch sold 318,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.23, for a total transaction of $16,017,995.39. Following the sale, the director owned 1,870,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,932,209.66. This trade represents a 14.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 1,022,713 shares of company stock worth $44,689,753 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 25.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Liquidia in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Liquidia during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new position in Liquidia in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Liquidia in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Liquidia by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. 64.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Liquidia Company Profile

Liquidia Technologies, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The company leverages its proprietary PRINT® (Particle Replication In Non-wetting Templates) platform to engineer precisely shaped and sized drug particles, with the goal of improving delivery, efficacy and safety profiles. By controlling particle characteristics at the nanoscale, Liquidia seeks to enhance respiratory and other therapies that depend on targeted delivery.

The company’s lead product candidate, LIQ861, is a dry powder formulation of treprostinil designed for inhalation in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).